Lócë Nárë (Dragon Fire)
by MissWisy
Summary: What if dragons could change shape? What if they could look human? Well, what if two were cursed to stay human? Grace and Hope are two dragons who were cursed a millenia ago and now they have been employed by their friend Gandalf to help a Company of Dwarves take back their homeland. How will they deal with the Dwarves obvious and well deserved hatred of Dragons? ThorinxOC KillixOC
1. Unexpected Visitors

~3rd Person POV~  
>In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort. However, a certain hobbit was not having a very comfortable day, and it was very doubtful he would be comfortable for a rather long time.<p>

"Would you please put that down! Excuse me that is a doily not a dishcloth! Oh, bebuther these dwarves!" exclaimed Bilbo Baggins, all in a tizzy. His day was supposed to simply be a day of hole cleaning and then a restful night of dinner and then reading by the fire. And then came the dwarves. Eating his food, ruining his plumbing and almost destroying his lovely little hole. And the final straw came when he heard a rapid and loud banging at his door. Thinking it was another of the dwarves rabble, he slammed his door open. He gasped as two blurs sped through his door and hid behind a certain grey wizard. Not a second later up came a hobbit to the door of Bilbo Baggins, huffing as if he had just ran a great distance.

"Bilbo! Have you seen two girls around here? Both of them have white hair but one has a blue streak through it and the other a black streak" huffed the hobbit, who was none other than Hamfast Gamgee. Bilbo turned to look at Gandalf who gave him the smallest of nods, just noticeable to little Bilbo.

"No, I can't say that I have Hamfast. Why?" asked the inquisitive hobbit of the other.

"They got into my lad's garden. Tore up the strawberries they did," complained the old Gaffer.

"Well in any case I hope you find them. Good night," said Bilbo.

"Good night to you as well Mr. Baggins," said Hamfast as he walked back through Bilbo's gate and down the road. Bilbo gently closed the door and turned to look at Gandalf, who was not in any way paying attention to said hobbit.

"Care to explain?" asked the grey wizard of the two figures behind him. Bilbo peered around the great wizard and saw the two girls that the old Gaffer had been describing to him not a minute ago.

They looked incredibly alike, which led Bilbo to believe that they were sisters, which indeed they were. Twins in fact. One had long white-blond hair with an icy blue streak and piercing grey eyes, while the other had the same hair color but with a black streaks and eyes so dark they were almost black.

"It was Hope, I wanted to get here as soon as possible, but someone was "hungry" and decided it was time for a late night snack. Of strawberries," said the blue eyed one pointing at her companion, Hope.

"I do believe it is about time you learned to control that stomach of yours dear girl! One day it might land you in a heap of trouble!" exclaimed the wizard, exasperated.

"Sorry Gandalf, but a girl's got to eat!" exclaimed Hope with a cheeky smile. Noticed the confused and flustered hobbit Hope walked over to Bilbo and shook his hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Baggins! My name is Estelwen, but you can call me Hope. This is my good for nothing sister Grace," said the young lady rather brashly. The other girl, Grace, slowly and quietly walked over.

"It's very nice to meet you Master Baggins. Please pardon the intrusion," she said, giving him an apologetic smile.

"It is quite alright dear, if I were being chased by of Hamfast Gamgee I would run as well," joked Bilbo, though he wasn't really joking.

"Well come along, you two need to meet the others in the company," said Gandalf, tugging the girls behind. The twins walked into the little dinning room one smiling kindly and the other just gazing about, bored.

"Who are these two Gandalf?" asked a kindly looking old dwarf. His beard was as long and white as his hair and his dark eyes held a twinkle in them. "This my dear Balin, are my good friends Grace and Hope." Each of the girls curtseyed in respect and Gandalf was just about to introduce them to the others when there came yet another loud bang at the door. Only this one seemed far more ominous and forbidding. The deep knock echoed through the house and everyone at once stilled and looked toward the entrance hall.

"He's here," said Gandalf ominously. He walked over to the door and pulled it open. On the other side was a handsome dwarf with shoulder length dark hair and a regal air around him.

"Gandalf. I thought you said this place would be easy to find. I lost my way, twice. Wouldn't have found it at all had it not been for that mark on the door," said the dwarf as he stepped into the hole, taking off his cloak.

"Mark? There's no mark on that door. It was painted a week ago!" exclaimed Bilbo Baggins. Gandalf gently closed the door and then turned back to the flustered hobbit with a gentle smile on his face. "There is a mark; I put it there myself. Bilbo Baggins, Grace, Hope, allow me to introduce the leader of our company, Thorin Oakenshield," said Gandalf gesturing to the dark haired dwarf.

"So, this is the Hobbit. Tell me, Mr. Baggins, have you done much fighting?" asked Thorin as he circled round Bilbo, examining him. "Pardon me?" "Axe or sword? What's your weapon of choice?"

"Well, I have some skill at Conkers, if you must know, but I fail to see why that's relevant," replied Bilbo, shyly stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Thought as much. He looks more like a grocer than a burglar," chortled Thorin as he turned towards Grace and her sister.

"No," he said immediately upon seeing them.

"Why?" asked Gandalf.

"I will not bring women on this journey, they will merely slow us down. I doubt they even know how to defend themselves," he spat out. Gandalf turned and seeing the look on Hope's face gave her a warning look. And of course she ignored it. Her hand crept closer to her dagger and not a second later she had it to Thorin's throat and had him pinned to the floor.

"We very much able to defend ourselves. And be thankful that my sister is a little more level headed than me. For if you had pissed her off you would quite possibly already be dead," said Hope.

"Leithian se, Estelwen," ordered Grace.

"Amman neth?" asked Hope.

"Leithian se!" she said a little louder. Hope glared at her sister and let the dwarf up. He stood, brushed off his clothes and made his way into the dining room, without a second glace back. Everyone followed him and the air couldn't be tenser. Balin fetched a hidden bowl of soup, some bread and an ale for Thorin and as Thorin ate, the dwarves conversed. They spoke of a meeting of different dwarven clans and if they had their support. Which the other were saddened to discover, they did not.

"You're going on a quest?" inquired Bilbo. To which Gandalf replied.

"Bilbo, my dear fellow, let us have a little more light." As Bilbo ran off to fetch more candles Gandalf reached into the many folds of his robe and pulled out a map. "Far to the East, over ranges and rivers, beyond woodlands and wastelands, lies a single solitary peak," said Gandalf pointing to a spot on the map.

"The Lonely Mountain," read Bilbo aloud.

"Aye. Oin has read the portents, and the portents say it is time," said a red haired dwarf.

"Ravens have been seen flying back to the mountain as it was foretold: When the birds of yore return to Erebor, the reign of the beast will end," said Oin, the dwarf holding an ear trumpet to his head. Gandalf got out his pipe and tobacco and not having a match Grace slyly lit it for him, the action not going unnoticed by Balin. He gave her a curious look then tuned back into the discussion.

"Uh, what beast?" asked Bilbo.

"Well that would be a reference to Smaug the Terrible, chiefest and greatest calamity of our age. Airborne fire-breather, teeth like razors, claws like meathooks, extremely fond of precious metals-"

"Why don't you just say a dragon!?" exclaimed Hope.

"I know what a dragon is," said Bilbo at the same time.

"I'm not afraid! I'm up for it. I'll give him a taste of the Dwarfish iron right up his jacksie," said one of the younger dwarves, jumping up from the table. Grace gave a slight smile at his antics. However the dwarf next to him didn't like his language and slapped him in the arm saying, "There are ladies in the room, watch your tongue!" Looking quite ashamed the young dwarf sat back down.

"The task would be difficult enough with an army behind us. But we number just thirteen, and not thirteen of the best, nor brightest," said Balin, being the voice of reason.

"What did he say?" asked Oin, as the dwarves started to yell having been offended by Balin's statement.

"We may be few in number, but we're fighters, all of us, to the last dwarf!" shouted a blond haired, young dwarf, trying to be heard over the others.

"And you forget, we have a wizard in our company. Gandalf will have killed hundreds of dragons in his time," siad the dwarf next to him. "Oh, well, now, uh, I-I-I wouldn't say that, I- -" stuttered Gandalf. It was at about this time in the conversation that Grace saw herself out of the room. Hope gave her sister a concerned look, but Grace just smiled back and left the room. She wandered down the halls and a few seconds after she left she heard a loud shout and then silence. She winced at remembering what the dwarves had said about the dragon that attacked them. She knew it was true, but she also couldn't help but want to tell them that not all dragons are like this. Yes, they like gold and jewels, some more than others, but not all were mad for the precious items. In fact she knew of a couple who grew to hate the things that had captured their hearts.

"Jukkete!" she whisper shouted. She hadn't been around many other people in a very long time. With how hostile dwarves were to dragons, she honestly didn't know if she could go through with this, no matter who was asking.

"Mana raeg?" asked Hope as she walked up behind her sister. "Nányë gaer," replied Grace. "Ion?"

"Nornwaith," whispered Grace, almost ashamed. It was then that the sisters heard something coming from back the way they came. It didn't sound like yelling so they walked back to the others. What they discovered astounded them. The Dwarves were singing.

"_Far over the misty mountains cold,_  
><em>To dungeons deep and caverns old,<em>  
><em>We must away, ere break of day<em>  
><em>To find our long forgotten gold.<em>

_The pines were roaring on the height,_  
><em>The winds were moaning in the night,<em>  
><em>The fire was red, its flaming spread<em>  
><em>The trees like torches blazed with light."<em>

They stood in the doorway of the room and just watch the Dwarves. After hearing their song, the sisters felt touched and thought that maybe helping them wouldn't be so bad.

"So, just who are ye lassies?" asked the red haired dwarf.

"My name is Hope and this is my sister, Grace. We come from a small village just north of Bree," said Hope, reciting the cover story the sisters had decided on.

"And how is it that you came to know the language of the elves?" asked Bilbo.

"Our mother was friends with the elves of Rivendell, she taught us in case one day we met them," explained Grace in a soft voice.

"May I ask, if its not too intrusive, are you two twins?" asked Bilbo.

"We are! Most people wouldn't be able to tell because of our hair and eyes, and no its not intrusive," said Hope. The company talked for a few more minutes about many things, mainly each other's stories and names and such. After about an hour Thorin called for lights out and everybody headed for bed.

"Bain dû," said Hope and Grace at the same time to everyone.

"And what does that mean?" asked Thorin, glaring suspisuosly.

"Good night," they said, then walked off to another room, laid down their heads and slept, albeit not soundly.

A/N I do not own the Hobbit, that right goes to J.R.R Tolkien and Peter Jackson. I hope you like the first chapter and will leave a review. For translations of the Elvish used in this story please check out the companion piece to it on my account. Anyway please favorite and review. I am hoping to get the next chapter up tomorrow. And as always if you spot any grammar or spelling mistakes please let me know. Thank you and have a wonderful day!


	2. The World Ahead

~Hope's PoV~

_**Burning, the world a painting of fire and death. Women, men, children people of all ages running about, looking for their loved ones. Trying to escape the pain, the fire. High in the sky a pale white dragon rained fire down upon the terrified people, an elated smile on its scaly face. Dropping to the ground and transforming into her human form, for this dragon was a she. She grabbed her sword from one of her comrades already on the ground. They charged into the village and massacred those who were still alive. Walking around the corner the girl came upon a child. A little girl of no more than 10, holding a bow, strung and drawn. The she-dragon stalked forward, unafraid of the child whose hands were shaking horribly. As she got closer the dragon looked into the child's frightened eyes and felt...nothing. She drew back her sword and then thrust it into the little girl's body. Then walked off as if nothing had happened.**_

"Grace!" I whisper shouted as I shook my sister awake. Grace's eyes opened and she looked around, unfeelingly until she realized where she was. Tears began to prick her eyes and soon I was holding her in my arms as she sobbed.

"It's alright, you're here, you're safe," I whispered as I rocked her back and forth, smoothing down here hair. It took a few minutes but she eventually calmed down.

"Avatyar nin,"she whispered, wiping her eyes. I just gave her a slight smile and that was that. I knew that she had had _that_ dream again and I also knew there was nothing I could do about it. It was at this time that the other dwarves began to rouse, some not willingly and after five minutes everyone was up. Grace walked down the hall, probably to refresh herself.

I looked around and the mass of dwarves and felt a pair of eyes upon me. Turning around I found myself gazing into a pair of dark brown eyes that belonged to the archer Kili. I raised a brow at him and he smirked. I made my way over to him weaving through the bodies of the other dwarves as the got ready for the journey ahead. When I finally stood before him I put my hands on my hips and just stood there apprasising him.

"See anything you like?" he asked. I mentally chuckled at his audacity and shrugged my shoulders.

"Maybe," I replied with a smirk on my face.

~Grace's POV~

I walked down the halls in silence, trying to compose myself before I went back out there. I had to make myself feel something again. I always had to put on a fake smile around my sister, just to convince her that I was slightly alright. She didn't know the full extent of what happened. All I told her was that I had killed a child. I never told her what really happened. I feared that she would hate me. Shaking my head I tried to focus on other things. Like how the dwarves would react when they found out what we were.

"Why did Gandalf ask you to join this quest?" said a deep voice behind me. I turned, startled by Thorin's silent approach.

"We...owed him a favor," I said. "He rescued us from our own blindness and helped get us back on our feet."

"Why did you agree? You don't seem to like dwarves," he said.

"I may not like dwarves very much but Gandalf is a dear friend and he requested my help, that is why," I said, then I brushed past him and walked back to the main chamber. I saw my Hope talking with one of the younger dwarves, and so I went into the kitchen to find something to drink. I went to the sink and grabbed myself a glass of water and then made my way back to the others. By now everyone was packed up and we were about to get underway. Balin left the contract on the end table, signed by both him and Thorin.

We left the hobbit hole and as we walked through the town we stopped by an inn and gathered our ponies. I climbed onto my bay pony and made my way next to Hope. We set off from the town and I glanced back at the little hole where a certain hobbit was still sleeping. I turned back to the company and gazed at the sun, that was just peaking over the hills.

-The Hobbit-

"Wait! Wait! I signed it!" I heard a voice call out behind us. We all stopped our ponies in their tacks and turned around. What we saw pleased some and astonished others. There was Bilbo Baggins himself running up to us. He handed the signed contract to Balin who took it in hand and looked at it.

"Everything appears to be in order. Welcome, Master Baggins, to the company of Thorin Oakenshield," said Balin, happily.

"Give him a pony," said Thorin turning back around.

"No, no, no, no, that-that won't be necessary, thank you, but I-I'm sure I can keep up on foot. I- I-I've done my fair share of walking holidays, you know. I even got as far as Frogmorton once-WAGH!" exclaimed Bilbo as Kili and Fili picked him up and put him on a pony. He grabbed the reins awkwardly and sat on the pony rather tense. I slowed down and steered my pony to the other side of his.

"It's alright, you'll get used to it. I remember the first time I rode. I was so scared that it took both my mother and my father to haul me up onto the creature. And then an hour later I was laughing my head off I was enjoying myself so much," I remembered fondly. Those were the days, before the war began. I looked over and gave Bilbo a small smile which he hesitantly returned.

"Come on, Nori, pay up. Go on," shouted Oin. "Hey, hey, hey!" he exclaimed as he caught a little sack of gold that was thrown his way. some of the dwarves laughed as the others paid up.

"What's that about?" asked Bilbo.

"Oh, they took wagers on whether or not you'd turn up. Most of them bet that you wouldn't," explained Gandalf who was on Bilbo's other side.

"What did you two think?"

"Hmmm. Well," Gandalf and I said at the same time. We looked at each other and then grinned as we each caught a small sack of gold. I turned to my sister and saw her glaring at my smug face, as she had bet against him.

"My dear fellow, I never doubted you for a second," said Gandalf.

"Ohh. All this horse hair, I'm having a reaction," said Bilbo as he sneezed. He began to search through his pockets and then became rather frantic as he didn't find what he was looking for.

"No, no, wait, wait, stop! Stop! We have to turn around," he shouted. The company stopped and all turned toward Bilbo.

"What on earth is the matter?" asked Gandalf.

"I forgot my handkerchief," said Bilbo, still searching through his pockets. A few of us who had bet for him let out frustrated sighs and the others gave us _the _ look. The look that said "I knew he would do something like this."

"Here! Use this," said Bofur, tearing off a piece of his cloak and tossing it back to Bilbo. He gave a disgusted look at the offending cloth and acted like he didn't understand why we wouldn't turn back.

"Move on," ordered Thorin as he turned his pony back around and we once more continued on our way.

"You'll have to manage without pocket-handkerchiefs and a good many other things, Bilbo Baggins, before we reach our journey's end. You were born to the rolling hills and little rivers of the Shire, but home is now behind you; the world is ahead," said Gandalf, in a rather poetic way.

We continued on through the day only pausing to let the horses and us have a small drink and some food once or twice. I saw Hope up ahead talking with Kili, about what I don't know all I do know was that she liked him. A lot. When she started to like someone she would twirl he hair in a certain way and move her body to seem more attractive. My question however was this...how in the world do you know you like someone after knowing them for less than a day? Honestly, there is no way you become interested in someone that fast. Sighing I tunred away and looked at the other dwarves. Some were talking to the others next to or behind them while some were just sitting quietly. But there was one who very much intrigued me. He was drawing whilst riding.

I looked at him in quiet admiration for a couple minutes and then pulled my horse next to his, as Bilbo was quietly sulking and didn't seem like he wanted to talk. I took a peak at what he was drawing and saw that it was the company, some with jolly smiles on their faces some talking animatedly with others and some just gazing off. I looked at the figure that was me and saw that he had drawn me with a sad, scared look on my face as I looked at the dwarves around me.

"Why do I look so sad and scared?" I asked him quietly, startling him from his focused drawing.

"W-well that's how you seemed last night, as if you didn't want to be there," he said. I nodded and was shocked at how perceptive he was. I rode back ahead next to Bilbo and sat there quietly thinking about what to expect from the quest.

~Hope's PoV~

"And then he said you may now kiss the bride!" laughed out Kili. I clutched my sides at the hilarity of his story.

"And no one noticed?" I asked.

"No one! I mean how does one not notice these things?" he exclaimed a wide grin on his face. I shrugged as I attempted to calm my laughter.

"May I ask you something?" asked Kili.

"Of course," I replied.

"Why does your sister seem to distance herself? She seems friendly enough, but she acts like she is afraid of us.." he trailed off. I looked back at my sister to see her frowning off into the distance. I could only guess as to what she was thinking. I knew she didn't want to but she has kept many things from me and won't let me help her.

"Let's just say her and I have had a very difficult life. Our parents died when we were young and Grace took it harder than I did," I mentally slapped myself at the blatant lie. For one our parents were still alive, we just hadn't seen them in a very long time.

"I'm sorry. Fili and I lost our father not long after I was born. I never really got the chance to know him. Our mother is waiting for us to come back home safe and our uncle...well he is very caring, he just doesn't like to show it," he remarked looking to the front of the procession. I followed where his gaze had landed and saw that it was Thorin he was staring at.

"Thorin is your uncle?" I asked, shocked at first but then as I gazed back and forth between the two I could see the resemblance.

"Indeed, he is my mother's brother. I see him as more of a father figure though as I never knew mine. He helped raise Fili and I, more so Fili as he is Thorin's heir," said Kili.

"Wow," we continued to talk about family and such things as we rode on. It took us all day but eventually we made it to the mountains. I had enjoyed the rolling, green hills, the fresh, calm air and the sound of birds chirping, but now came the high and jagged stone. We lead our ponies up and down narrow paths, sometimes having to ride single file. As the light began to fade and the night grew darker it became colder. It was no problem for me and my sister however as we still retained our natural resistance to cold, even though we had lost our true fire long ago.

We eventually stopped for the night to set up camp. We all dismounted our ponies and Ori and Nori went off to find some fire wood. Bombur pulled supplies out of his pack and began to prepare dinner. I laid out my bedroll near to the wall of the cave we had settled in and I laid down, resting my aching legs and sore bottom. I hadn't ridden a horse so much in forever. Grace and I had walked to Hobbiton as it was only a two or three day journey from where we lived. My sister's face appeared above my own as she starred down at me, slight disapproval in her eyes. I gave her a confused look that told her all she needed to know.

"You can't marry someone you just met," she said as she laid out her bed roll next to mine.

"I wasn't planning on marrying anyone anytime soon. Or even thinking of courting someone," I said. "I don't even have someone I like!" I whisper shouted.

"Don't lie, I saw you twirling your hair and you only do that when you like someone," she said giving me a pointed look.

"Ok, I like him, so what? It's not like he's going to like me when he finds out anyway. Just leave it alone alright?" I told her, getting upset. She had always been like this, too afraid to let anyone in, too afraid that they would hate her if they found out what she was. She was about to reply when there was a loud shriek that echoed off the sides of the mountains.

"What was that?" asked Bilbo as he pointed to where the sound had come from.

"Orcs," answered Kili. I noticed that most of the dwarves were now asleep. Too tired from the days excursions to eat, which was a miracle in itself.

"Orcs?" questioned Bilbo, probably never having heard of the disgusting creatures.

"Throat-cutters. There'll be dozens of them out there. The lowlands are crawling with them," started Fili.

"They strike in the wee small hours, when everyone's asleep. Quick and quiet; no screams, just lots of blood," Kili said finished the description. And at Bilbo's look of terror they both begin to laugh.

"You think that's funny? You think a night raid by orcs is a joke?" questioned Thorin angrily having awoken from his light slumber at the mention of orcs.

"We didn't mean anything by it," said Kili abashed not realizing he had awoken.

"No, you didn't. You know nothing of the world," spat Thorin.

"Don't mind him, laddie. Thorin has more cause than most to hate orcs. After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient dwarf kingdom of Moria. But our enemy had got there first. Moria had been taken by legions of Orcs lead by the most vile of all their race: Azog, the Defiler. The giant Gundabad Orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin. He began by beheading the King. Thrain, Thorin's father, was driven mad by grief. He went missing, taken prisoner or killed, we did not know. We were leaderless. Defeat and death were upon is when I saw him: a young dwarf prince facing down the Pale Orc. He stood alone against this terrible foe, his armor rent…wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield. Azog, the Defiler, learned that day that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken. Our forces rallied and drove the orcs back. Our enemy had been defeated. But there was no feast, no song, that night, for our dead were beyond the count of grief. We few had survived. And I thought to myself then, there is one who I could follow. There is one I could call King," recounted Balin, his voice thick with sadness and hope. By now all the dwarves were awake and looking toward Thorin, with respect and admiration.

I looked toward my sister and at her blank stare I knew she was thinking of what happened to Díraon Valse, our home. It had been destroyed in one of the first battles of the Fire War and we had to rebuild. Many had died, and all had lost the place they once called home. I grabbed my sisters hand and I saw her eyes clear, no longer was she caught in the memories of a time long past. I saw the tears coming to her eyes and the quiet resolve she had to not cry in front of the others and be considered weak. I saw her stand up and then walk over to Thorin she placed her hand on his shoulder and gave him a small nod. I smiled then, because if she realized it or not, Grace was beginning to open up. And that was the one thing she had vowed never to do.

-An Unexpected Journey-

A/N Well I hope you liked that chapter. The trolls are coming up next and I honestly cannot wait to write that part. There might be a decent amount of feels in the next chapter. Also Elrond and his people will be making a guest appearance in the next chapter and you get to learn a little bit more about Grace and Hope's background. I hope you liked the little bits I gave you this chapter. And also free cookies for those who caught the Frozen reference. Also as I only used one Elvish phrase in this chapter I will put it here instead of making a whole chapter dedicated to it in my other story.

Avatyar nin (Forgive me)

Also a little review reply here.

the BugSlayer: I am so glad you liked it and yes Hope and Grace will not be relying on anyone to protect themselves. You will learn a little more about that in later chapters and you saw some of it in the flashback in this one. Thank you for reading and reviewing and I hope that you like this chapter.

Hope: Oh oh can I can I!? *jumping up and down*

Me: Can you what?

Hope: Ask the chapterly question!

Me: Fine...

Hope: Who is your favorite dwarf of the company and who is your favorite side character? Mine is Kili and a certain somebody who I can't tell you about just yet...

Me:Shut up! *covers Hope's mouth* Heh anyway please review and answer the above question. See you next chapter!


	3. I've Got Parasites

~Hope's PoV~

"Here, Mr. Gandalf, can't you do something about this deluge?" shouted Dori over the din of the rain. It had been raining for a good couple of hours. I was thoroughly soaked through to the bone and if one knows anything about a dragon, its that they in any way, shape or form _did not_ like water. I hated getting wet even just to take a bath. I had come to get used to bathing, but nothing could drain me like a rainstorm.

"It is raining, Master Dwarf, and it will continue to rain until the rain is done. If you wish to change the weather of the world, you should find yourself another wizard," said Gandalf exasperated.

"Are there any?" asked Bilbo curious.

"What?" asked Gandalf not quite sure he had heard correctly.

"Other wizards?" restated Bilbo.

"There are five of us. The greatest of our order is Saruman, the White. Then there are the two Blue Wizards; you know, I've quite forgotten their names," paused Gandalf, having not seen the Blue Wizards for quite an age. I do believe that I had met them once, a long time ago, though I couldn't quite remember their names either.

"And who is the fifth?"

"Well, that would be Radagast, the Brown."

"Is he a great Wizard or is he...more like you?" asked Bilbo, not realizing how offending his statement was. I looked over to Gandalf seeing he had a slightly insulted look on his face and now don't blame me, I couldn't help it. I laughed. I let out a rather large laugh at the ignorance of the young hobbit. I heard another chuckle from further up and saw my sister shared in my sentiments.

"I think he's a very great wizard, in his own way. He's a gentle soul who prefers the company of animals to others. He keeps a watchful eye over the vast forest lands to the East, and a good thing too, for always Evil will look to find a foothold in this world," told Gandalf, pausing at parts to glare at Grace and I. Radagast was a very great wizard. He was amazing when it came to taking care of the inhabitants of the Greenwood he calls home. Grace and I had lived with him for a longs while and he taught us many things about how to heal animals and even how to speak in their language. The last one was a rather difficult task. But now Grace and I are fluent in almost any animal tongue. HE could be a little eccentric at times but that was what drew us to him. It was a welcome change from all the formalities of our old everyday life. To have someone you could just be yourself with was...refreshing.

It was a couple of hours later that the rain decided it had had enough of drowning us. But now I had an even bigger problem. Trying to move in sodden clothes is not the easiest thing in the first place, but nope...now I had to pee. Travelling all day with nothing but rain pouring down around you just convinces your body its time to go.

"Might we take a moment to rest! Now that the rain is over!" I shouted ahead to Thorin, hoping he would hear me. Thankfully he did and even better he agreed. As soon as I managed to get of my horse I ran as fast as I could to the shelter of the trees.

~Grace's PoV~

I watched as my sister ran off into the towering trees of the forest. I walked over to Ori and stood next to him wondering about how to pose my question.

"Ori, I-I was wondering if I could borrow some parchment and charcoal. You see I enjoy drawing as a pastime as well and I haven't been able to for a long while now so I was just won-" I was abruptly cut off as a little book was thrust into my hands and a stick of fresh charcoal.

"I always bring a spare with me. Just in case. You never know how long a journey is going to be and how many easy days your going to get, to just draw," said Ori with a grin on his face. I smiled back and felt thankful that there was someone here who had at least one similar interest as me.

"May I look at your drawings sometime?" I asked slowly.

"Of course! I admit they aren't very great but I am proud of them none the less," he stuttered out. I gave a small smile at his shyness knowing exactly how he felt. I was always afraid of showing someone my works of art. No matter how much I liked them I always worried about what others would say. Especially when I showed them to my family. They are supposed to tell you that they like them, too afraid to hurt your feelings. I seem contradictory but its true. I was afraid of showing anyone because I was afraid they would say that they liked it, and it would be a lie.

"I know how you feel. don't worry I am sure your art will be spectacular," I said. And it was as I found out later that night. We rode for most of the day but as it got later and the sun was going down we found a decent place to make camp. It was on the edge of the woods and there was a very rundown house not to far from the trees. It was barely held up by its frame and quite lacking a roof. The only part of it that look whole was a blackened fireplace.

"We'll camp here for the night. Fili, Kili, look after the ponies. Make sure you stay with them," ordered Thorin as we all dismounted.

"A farmer and his family used to live here," said Gandalf who had already made his way over to the ruins.

"Oin, Gloin," called out Thorin.

"Aye?" answered Gloin.

"Get a fire going."

"Right you are."

"I think it would be wiser to move on. We could make for the Hidden Valley," suggested Gandalf. I saw Thorin's shoulders stiffen in anger and knew that he would not easily agree to that idea. I helped Oin and gloin to search for firewood and then once it was roaring in the field I walked back over to Ori.

"May I take a look at your drawings now?" I asked quietly as I came up behind him, trying not to scare him. I failed. He jumped about a foot in the air and let out a little squeak. I couldn't help but chuckle at his frightened face, then when he realized it was me, his slight glare.

"Don't sneak up on me, of course you can see my drawings," he said pulling a worn little book out of his bags. It was identical to the one he had let me borrow just a bit crinkled with how many times it had been opened and how much it had seen. I gently took it from his hands and went to sit on a log that had been set up around the fire. I opened the book to the first page and gasped at the sight that greeted me. It was a drawing of a mountain range, a forest at its feet and a cloudless sky above it. It was so realistic I could almost imagine I was there. As I flipped through the pages I saw many of what seemed like a city inside a mountain, a forest and a group of laughing people. I saw many pictures of Dori and Nori and an older couple standing with them.

"Is this your family?" I asked pointing at the picture.

"Yes, that's my mother and father and then you know Dori and Nori, my bothers," he said pointing to each person as he named them. I looked at the smiling family and felt a twinge in my stomach as it reminded me of my own family. I flipped to the next page and saw the drawing of the company and me looking so sad. The next pages held many pictures of the company and of the places we had ridden through. I heard footsteps approaching and I looked up, just as a broadsword was dropped on the ground before me. I looked at it confused about what the dwarf wanted me to do with it.

"We've all seen that your sister at least knows how to surprise someone, but I very much doubt that you can fight. Pick it up, I'll teach you," said Dwalin turning to walk away to the grass a little way from the fire.

"I know how to fight master dwarf, there is no need to 'teach' me," I said using emphasis on the word teach. I very much doubt that these childish dwarves were very good fighters. Well at least against me and my kind. I had been fighting since I was a small child, and that was a very long time ago.

"Oh? Well than let's see your fighting skills," taunted the bearish dwarf. So I walked to my pack and took out the short sword I had hidden among the folds of my spare cloak. I pulled it out of its sheath and the firelight reflected off the bright metal of the blade. It was about 18 inches long and double edged. It had been made with the fire of my father and the metal from a fallen star. Nothing could compete with the splendor of this sword. And it's name was Llmarë meaning starlight in Quenya.

I walked to Dwalin and stood across from him, my sword dangling loosely at my side, while his was held at the ready. I flicked my eyes down at his feet and noted his stance, trying to see where he would move. Naturally he made the first move which I easily dodged by sliding an inch to the left. I blocked his next swing with one of my own and then hit him with the flat of my sword against his stomach. He backed up a few feet and then rushed me his sword held high. I ducked down, knocked his feet from under him and then placed the tip of my sword against his neck.

"Yield?" I asked pressing down a little on his neck. His only answer was an affirming grunt and so I sheathed my sword and offered him a hand. He merely knocked it away, got up and stomped off. The others had been looking at me, shocked that I had been able to take him down.

"I have known how to fight since I was a small child, my father taught me," I said and then I walked away, back to the fire. I grabbed the blank book from Ori and set down to drawing.

"He's been a long time," said Bilbo standing next to the fire as dinner was being dished out.

"Who?" asked Bofur.

"Gandalf."

"He's a wizard! He does as he chooses. Here, do us a favor: take this to the lads," said Bofur as he handed two bowls of food to Bilbo, and by boys I assume he meant Fili and Kili. "Stop it, you've had plenty," he said to Bombur who was trying to take seconds. I looked around the fire for my sister but noticed she wasn't there. So I got up and walked over to Bofur.

"I'm going to bring something to my sister, she's probably with Fili and Kili," I said as he handed me a bowl. I graciously took it and followed after Bilbo.

"Bilbo! Wait up!" I called to him and he stopped and turned. Seeing it was me he kindly waited until I caught up with him. I smiled as we continued walking.

"Did your father really teach you to fight?" he asked.

"Yes, although that was a very long time ago. And he wasn't the only one, I've had many teachers. When my sister and I stayed with the elves for a little while they taught us some of their techniques. It took a long while for Hope to learn them. I remember her fumbling when she used the lighter sword. She must have thrown it at the instructor's head more times than I can count." I shook my head and laughed as I recall the painful months for the instructors.

"What's the matter?" asked Bilbo as we reached the clearing where Fili, Kili and Hope were.

"We're supposed to be looking out for the ponies," said Kili as he slightly turned to us.

"Only we've encountered a slight problem," said Fili.

"We had sixteen."

"Now there's fourteen."

"Daisy and Bungo are missing," said Kili after we searched through to find out just which ponies had been taken.

"Well, that's not good. That is not good at all. Shouldn't we tell Thorin?" asked Bilbo.

"Uhh, no. Let's not worry him. As our official burglar, we thought you might like to look into it," muttered Fili. Bilbo looked to the uprooted tree a few feet away, the bowls still in his hands.

"Well, uh...look, some-something big uprooted these trees," stated Bilbo sounding confused to as why he was the one looking into the scenario.

"That was our thinking," said Kili, my Hope just rolled her eyes at all the obvious statements. She looked my way and nodded at me, telling me to use my tracking skills. I took one look at the tree and the area around it before I knew what we were dealing with. Trolls, mountain trolls by the looks of it.

"Something very big, and possibly quite dangerous," continued Bilbo.

"But why would mountain trolls be down this far south," I whispered to myself, though it seems as if everybody heard.

"Mountain trolls? How do you know that?" asked Fili.

"Well not only did my father teach me to fight, he also taught me how to hunt and track. If you look right here you can see the giant footprint from the beast and there is only two creatures that have a footprint of this shape and size. One of them is a water troll, but they only live in dark and dank places so rules them out and the others are mountain trolls. Though I haven't known mountain trolls to come this far south," I explained, trailing off at the end.

"Hey! There's a light. Over here! Stay down!" whisper shouted Fili as he pulled Bilbo and I down behind the fallen tree. Kili pulled Hope down and I noticed had his arm around her shoulder.

"He's got Myrtle and Minty! I think they're going to eat them, we have to do something," whispered Bilbo. Then I saw a light come into the boys' eyes and I didn't like it one bit.

"Yes; you should. Mountain trolls are slow and stupid, and you're so small," said Kili as we moved forward behind two of the trees.

"N-n-no-" stuttered Bilbo in fear.

"They'll never see you," argued Kili taking his bowl of food.

"No, no, no..." continued Bilbo, even though he knew they wouldn't listen to him.

"It's perfectly safe! We'll be right behind you," said Kili.

"If you run into trouble, hoot twice like a barn owl, once like a brown owl," said Fili as he took his food and pushed the poor hobbit forward.

"I'll go with you Bilbo," I muttered. Hope gave me a look and I gave a slight smile in return, trying to convey that I would be alright. She nodded and then left with the boys.

~Hope's PoV~

Fili, Kili and I ran back to the camp as fast as we could, though I wasn't particularly worried as I new Grace could hold her own. We burst through the trees all scraped up and slightly bleeding.

"Trolls! Trolls in the woods! There are bloody trolls in the woods!" I shouted as we got closer to the others. I saw Ori promptly look like he wanted to faint and the others grabbed their weapons and followed us.

"Bilbo and Grace are entering the trolls camp to see if they can free the horses and we came to fetch you for aid," explained Kili and Thorin ran next to him.

"How many trolls?" asked Dwalin.

"We don't know," said Fili. It took us all of two minutes to reach the other horses and then we made it to where we had left Blibo and Grace. Kili took off ahead of us crashing through the bushes.

"Hold his toes over the fire, make him squeal!" I head a high nasaly voice say as I ran after him. We leapt through the bushes and slashed at the troll's legs making _him _squeal.

"Drop him!" shouted Kili as I stabbed the one troll through the foot making it fall down.

"You what?" said the troll holding Bilbo upside down by his legs.

"I said, drop him," repeated Kili, this time with a dangerous whisper in is voice. The troll threw Bilbo and thankfully Kili caught him and then the others sprang through the bushes letting out a fierce battle cry. I looked around the trolls' camp but there was no sign of Grace. Knowing her she was probably hiding out in the trees, waiting for the oportune moment to strike. The next few minutes were a blur of hacking and slashing at the trolls. Blood was everywhere and I couldn't tell if it was mine, the trolls or the dwarves. I hoped that it was mostly the trolls. I was just beginning to think that we might win when I felt the body of a dwarf land on top of me and all the others either running or being thrown this way.

"Bilbo!" shouted Kili.

"No!" Thorin shouted as he held back his nephew. Thankfully someone noticed that I was being flattened by a certain dwarf cook and so they helped pick Bombur off of me and then helped me up. I turned and glared at the trolls who were holding Bilbo in the air.

"Lay down your arms, or we'll rip his off," said the troll on the right. Bilbo had this terrified look on his face, like he actually believed that they wouldn't put down their weapons. We were all angry at having lost but we still threw down our swords, hammers and in Ori's case a slingshot. And if it wasn't such a bad time I would have laughed at how funny it is to watch someone angrily throw down a slingshot. If you haven't seen someone do that you need to...like I said, wrong time.

The trolls grabbed us and one by one stuffed us into horrid smelling sacks. Now I had been in some smelly situations but this one was the worst. The bags smelled as if a multitude of different creatures had died in them and then been used to clean the rear end of a troll. It was that bad. Only half of us were in the horrid smelling sacks the rest were tied to a spit over the fire.

"Don't bother cooking them. Let's just sit on them and squash them into jelly," said the nasally sounding troll.

"They should be sautéed and grilled with a sprinkle of sage," said the older looking troll on end of the spit.

"Is this really necessary?" shouted Dori from the spit.

"Ooh, that does sound quite nice," agreed Nasally.

"Untie us, you monsters!" shouted Oin.

"Take on someone your own size!" called out Gloin. Both of them were being slowly roasted on the spit and honestly once upon a time, that might have sat well with me. Now I was frustrated and angered that I hadn't been able to do the one thing Gandalf asked of us. Protect the dwarves.

"Never mind the seasoning; we ain't got all night! Dawn ain't far away, so let's get a move on. I don't fancy being turned to stone," shouted the troll at the other end of the spit. I think I'll call him Angry.

"Wait! You are making a terrible mistake," said Bilbo jumping up from the pile of dwarf bodies next to me.

"You can't reason with them, they're half-wits!" yelled Dori from the spit.

"Half-wits? What does that make us?" asked Bofur.

"Uh, I meant with the, uh, with, uh, with the seasoning," stuttered Bilbo.

"What about the seasoning?" asked the older troll.

"Well have you smelt them? You're going to need something stronger than sage before you plate this lot up," said Bilbo making a disgusted face and I wholly agreed. If you were to cook dwarf you needed something _much_ stronger than sage.

"What do you know about cooking dwarf?" yelled Angry.

"Shut up, and let the, uh, flurgaburburrahobbit talk," said Oldy as he knelt down closer to Bilbo.

"Uh, th-the secret to cooking dwarf is, um-" stuttered Bilbo, not having thought that far.

"Yes? Come on," said Oldy.

"It's, uh-" stammered Bilbo.

"Well, I've never been particularly fond of the taste of dwarf but I would suggest sea lavander. No, maybe ginger...ah no I've got it jewelweed! That would be perfect for dwarf!" shouted Grace from somewhere in the trees.

"Who was that?" asked Nasally.

"Who goes there!?" shouted Angry.

"Nothing wrong with a bit of raw dwarf! Nice and crunchy," said Nasally as he picked up Bombur and dangled him over his mouth.

"Not-not that one, he-he's infected!" shouted Bilbo desperatly.

"You what?" said Angry.

"Yeah, He's got worms in his … tubes," struggled Bilbo. Nasally dropped poor Bombur back into our little group and unfortunately for me, right on top of me.

"In-in fact they all have, they're in-infested with parasites. It's a terrible business; I wouldn't risk it, I really wouldn't," continued Bilbo.

"Parasites, did he say parasites?" shouted Dwalin.

"We don't have parasites! You have parasites!" shouted Kili, I honestly wanted to kick them but couldn't as I was once again being flattened.

"What are you talking about, laddie?" asked Gloin being quite slow and confused. Thankfully though Thorin figured out what Bilbo was doing and kicked the arguing dwarves on the ground. Then they began to sing a different tune.

"I've got parasites as big as my arm!" shouted Oin.

"Mine are the biggest parasites, I've got huge parasites!" Kili hollered out.

"We're riddled."

"Yes, I'm riddled."

"Yes we are. Badly!" said Nori, Dori and Ori one after the other.

"What would you have us do, then, let 'em all go?" questioned Angry.

"Well..." muttered Bilbo.

"You think I don't know what you're up to? This little ferret is taking us for fools!" Angry yelled as he continued to turn the spit.

"Ferret?" said Bilbo, rather offended at the nickname.

"Fools?" said Oldy.

"The dawn will take you all!" shouted Gandalf as he crested the rock that was hididng the slowly rising sun. Nasally hadn't noticed said wizard and was angrily reaching for Bilbo when Grace pushed him out of the way and was herself caught in the trolls grasp.

"Who's that?" asked Oldy.

"No idea," said Angry

"Can we eat `im too?" asked Nasally just as Gandalf split the stone and the sunlight pored through. The trolls screamed in pain as they were turned to stone and I saw Grace gasp and cringe at the stone tightening around her. It was then that Gandalf came down from the rock and helped get us out of the sack. The second he was free Kili ran to me and untied me. I ran over to where my sister was and watched as she squirmed in the trolls stone grasp.

"How are you doing today?" I asked cheekily. She glared daggers at me and squirmed even more.

"Nányë nahta asyanin!" she yelled. I gave her a slight grin and then called Gandalf over.

"Would you please assist my dear sister with her stoney situation," I said, cracking a grin at my joke. Gandalf simply rolled his eyes and split the stone holding Grace. She let out a little yelp as she fell to the ground, bruised and bleeding. I offered her my hand and she gladly took it, dusting herself off.

"You know sea lavender, ginger and jewelweed would be absolutely horrible on dwarf right?" I whispered to her. She just rolled her eyes at me and walked away.

"Are you alright?" asked Kili walking up to me.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Are you alright?" I asked seeing he was favoring his right ankle.

"I'll be alright, just a twinge of pain," he said shrugging.

"Let's go everyone! Thorin wants to go find the troll's cave!" shouted Grace. I hadn't heard her yell out that loud in a long time. Maybe she was finally coming out of her shell.

-The Hobbit-

A/N So I know I said I would get to the elves in this chapter but apparently my muse didn't like that idea. However they should be in the next one. There will be a filler or two while they are in Rivendell. Cookies to those who find the Harry Potter reference I this chapter. I hope you liked it and I hope you will stick with me till the next chapter. Here is the translation for the one phrase I used.

Nányë nahta asyanin ( I am hurt. Help me!)

So in the next chapter expect to see elves and orcs...and smelly troll hordes.

Review Reply

the BugSlayer: There will be some more interactions in the next few chapters, specifically between Grace and Thorin. I hope you will like my portrayal of Radagast in the next couple of chapters. And Grace just said that she couldn't marry Kili...she never said Hope couldn't become interested in him *wink wink*

Me: And the award for asking the chapter question goes to *drum roll* Ori!

Ori: What? W-why me?

Me: Cuz I love ya, now go ahead ask it!

Ori: Why do I have to ask this? It's mean! And scary...

Me: Just ask it!

Ori: Will you help me hide a body?

Me: *grabs paper and rips it up* woops! Wrong paper! Here ya go Ori. *hands him correct paper*

Ori: Ok, if you could be one race from Middle Earth which would you choose?

Me: ELF! Sorry, I love you dwarves nad all but elves, just mmmmmmmmm Ok bye now! Please leave a review! And favorite and follow and what not. Damn this is a long chapter!


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